The MPs' trough is emptied; XML can keep it that way

Once upon a time there used to be all sorts of discussions about different methods of killing us all on a really big scale. There was the A-bomb. Then the H-bomb (much more lethal). Then the pointy heads in the Pentagon put their pointy heads together and thought of the neutron bomb, which when triggered would release a stream of neutrons that would blast through the surrounding area.

Its advantages: it would kill your opponents (in fact it would kill anyone in the neutron blast range), but unlike "conventional" atomic bombs, it wouldn't destroy everything in sight, but leave buildings pretty much intact. Quickly dubbed "the capitalist bomb", the neutron bomb was the one we all feared – until the suitcase bomb came along, at least.

Well, revealing everything about MPs' expenses turns out to be the neutron bomb of British politics. Barely anyone is left standing, or with any standing: the second homes allowance; the staffing allowance; the travel – once you open it all up the effect is devastating.

But while MPs' attempts to excuse themselves plumb new depths ("we're not as corrupt as other countries" from Harriet Harman is my favourite so far), something more important is being ­temporarily ignored, namely, how are we going to police this in future?

The answer I'd offer: put it all into an XML feed. Let us watch our MPs at work, and let us police their expenses. It should be quite simple for parliament's fees office – which already seems to have a fully functional CD burner – to join the 21st century and get an internet connection. Then, when an MP's expense claim is approved, it goes into the feed. Leave the rest to us; we'll start to mash it up against mapping systems, against other MPs, against other countries. We'll rapidly find out whose numbers don't seem to be stacking up correctly compared to the other ones.

We've already started this at the Guardian with the help of Tony Hirst of the Open University with the first, less-detailed wave of MPs' expenses , which almost immediately showed those MPs whose travel expenses seemed out of line. Sure, you have to push aside a few of the pushpins (by zooming in) but you'll quickly spot the odd ones out.

And then we can ask them why their expenses are so odd, rather than having to rely on newspapers relying in turn on public-­spirited whistleblowers motivated by outrage. It would work like this: no expense claim, no reimbursement. Expense claim and reimbursement? Then output on the XML feed. Simple.

This is open source as it could, and perhaps really should, be applied to politics. Forget quibbles about Linux; this is about our elected representatives realising that their insistence that they can keep DNA, approve 21-day detention, and nod through CCTV carries its own element of the panopticon, the Victorian concept of the prison where everything could be seen. If you want to watch us, then we want to be able to see you, and what you're doing.

After all, it's not as if you are claiming for the cleaning of your moat, or clearing moles, or flipping home addresses in a manner that would otherwise attract the attention of HM Revenue & Customs over unpaid capital gains tax ... is it?

But the neutron bomb will do its work. We can expect to see many "retirements" before the next ­parliamentary election; and lots of incumbents being flayed by rivals over every last cushion and flat-screen TV. The trough has been overturned. But XML will make sure it stays that way.

The outpouring of detail about MPs' expenses, even in the rudimentary flipping-homes-obfuscated form that we were handed earlier this year, has got visualisation teams working. And here we're going to bring you the five that have caught our eye